Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 32,390,000 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the November 15th total of 35,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total transaction of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,130.14. The trade was a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,217,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $471,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.80. 5,536,864 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,189,850. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.38. The company has a market cap of $39.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines has a 12-month low of $36.34 and a 12-month high of $67.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.33%.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.